World Youth 2019 R07: Who is the 1830-rated player performing at an Elo of 2568!

by Sagar Shah - 08/10/2019

Russia came to the under-14 open section with two medal hopefuls Volodar Murzin (2433) and Andrey Tsvetkov (2382) . They both were beaten by the same Indian player - Abinandhan R. And guess Abinandhan's rating? Just 1830! The youngster from Tamil Nadu has played some amazing chess at the World Youth Championships 2019 to perform at an Elo of 2568 and already gain 211 Elo points! In this report we have a look at Abinandhan's games. We also show you Hans Neimann's fine win over Rudik Makarian in under-16 open and Aryan Gholami's victory to snatch sole lead in under-18 open. But the game of the day was definitely Polina Shuvalova's rook and queen sacrifice! A beautiful pictorial report from Mumbai.

Going into the rest day, and with four rounds left to be played, it is a good time to take stock of what's going on in each category and who are the people who have chances to win medals. But first let's speak about the biggest achiever of the tournament - Abinandhan R.

The underdog of the event - Abinandhan R

He is rated just 1830, but he is gaining a mammoth 211 Elo points. Meet Abinandhan R from Tamil Nadu, India, who has played some scintillating chess at the World Youth Championships 2019. He currently has a rating performance of 2568 and is currently in joint lead with 6.0/7 in the under-14 open section.

The find of the tournament - Abinandhan R. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Abinandhan's scorecard

Let's try to see two of Abinandhan's wins against the most talented Russian youngsters - Volodar Murzin and Andrey Tsvetkov:

Abinandhan's win against Tsvetkov in round seven was even more impressive as he played quite originally to checkmate Black's king:

Abinandhan vs Tsvetkov

As White, how do you continue the attack?

Another player who is doing excellently well in under-14 open is Vo Pham Thien Phuc. He has gained 185 Elo points. Clearly he is much higher than his Elo of 1807.

Under-14 Open

Overnight leader Aydin Suleymanli was held to a draw on board one by Sreeshwan Maralakshikari. This meant that Aydin was now joined at the top by two Indians - Srihari and Abinandhan | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Srihari (right) went for a risky opening strategy with the Albin Counter Gambit to beat Pranav Anand | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Standings after round 7 - under-14 open

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	3	IM	Suleymanli Aydin	AZE	2426	6,0	0,0	29,5	33,0	3	5
2	12	FM	Srihari L R	IND	2283	6,0	0,0	27,5	30,5	4	6
3	55		Abinandhan R	IND	1830	6,0	0,0	26,5	30,5	3	5
4	1	FM	Sreeshwan Maralakshikari	IND	2449	5,5	0,0	29,0	32,0	4	5
5	13	FM	Morgunov Marc	AUT	2280	5,5	0,0	26,0	29,0	3	4
6	60		Vo Pham Thien Phuc	VIE	1807	5,5	0,0	25,0	28,5	3	4
7	20	CM	Luczak Filip	POL	2136	5,0	0,0	30,0	33,5	3	4
8	5	FM	Pranav Anand	IND	2351	5,0	0,0	28,0	31,5	3	4
9	16	FM	Flores Quillas Diego Saul Rodri	PER	2164	5,0	0,0	28,0	31,0	4	4
10	8	FM	Chyzy Jakub	POL	2327	5,0	0,0	27,0	31,0	4	4

Under-14 girls

Rakshitta Ravi beat Dhyana Patel for the top board clash in the under-14 girls section. Rakshitta is now one of the leaders with 6.0/7 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Dhyana vs Rakshitta, round 7

The move ...g6 in this position by Rakshitta was not so great. It allowed White to play Ng5 and get a better version of the two knight's variation with 4.Ng5. Dhyana had a clear advantage after the opening, but she made a couple of mistakes and lost the thread of the game.

Ekaterina Nasyrova felt intuitively how she should attack in the position and played some excellent chess! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The third leader in girls under-14 who is also on 6.0/7 is Eline Roebers. We interviewed Eline after the game. She showed us her seventh round win and also told us preferences when it came to Indian food!

Eline Roebers on her win against Safiye Ince

The girls under-14 is heating up also because the top seeded Divya Deshmukh has made a strong comeback winning her last three rounds and is now on 5.5/7

Divya Deshmukh's caveman approach!

Standings after round 7 - under-14 girls

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	4	WFM	Nasyrova Ekaterina	w	RUS	2137	6,0	0,0	29,5	33,0	3	5
2	5		Roebers Eline	w	NED	2083	6,0	0,0	29,0	32,5	3	5
3	2	WIM	Rakshitta Ravi	w	IND	2310	6,0	0,0	29,0	32,0	4	5
4	11		Hakobyan Astghik	w	ARM	1978	5,5	0,0	27,0	30,0	3	5
5	1	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	w	IND	2358	5,5	0,0	25,5	28,0	3	5
6	9	WFM	Dhyana Patel	w	IND	1995	5,0	0,0	30,0	31,5	3	4
7	30		Velpula Sarayu	w	IND	1717	5,0	0,0	28,5	31,0	4	5
8	13	WCM	Ghomi Parnian	w	IRI	1948	5,0	0,0	26,0	28,0	3	4
9	16	WCM	Mungunzul Bat-Erdene	w	MGL	1912	5,0	0,0	25,0	27,0	4	4
10	3	WFM	Allahverdiyeva Ayan	w	AZE	2160	5,0	0,0	24,0	26,5	4	5

Under-16 open

The sole leader in the under-16 section after round seven is Hans Niemann. After beating Rudik Makarian, we asked him as to how he would spend his rest day. "I will relax a bit in the pool, and yes complete my school assigments!" Hans Niemann's laptop is also not working and he is preparing with the help of his friend in the US. This goes to show what a big talent he is. In spite of not focusing on chess with all his might, he is able to lead such a strong event.

Hans Niemann played some inspired chess to beat the in-form Rudik Makarian | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Hans Niemann speaks to IM Sagar Shah after his game and tells us about his thought process and why he made specific moves

Standings after round 7 - under-16 open

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	IM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2439	6,0	0,0	27,5	30,5	3	5
2	7	IM	Makarian Rudik	RUS	2386	5,5	0,0	28,0	32,0	4	5
3	8	CM	Aronyak Ghosh	IND	2380	5,5	0,0	27,5	30,5	3	4
4	23		Bilych Olexiy	UKR	2281	5,5	0,0	25,5	27,0	3	5
5	22	FM	Soto Miguel Angel	COL	2283	5,5	0,0	22,0	24,5	4	5
6	17	FM	Moksh Amit Doshi	IND	2328	5,0	0,0	27,5	30,5	4	4
7	13	IM	Pogosyan Stefan	RUS	2364	5,0	0,0	27,5	29,5	4	3
8	20	CM	Kushagra Mohan	IND	2309	5,0	0,0	26,0	29,0	3	3
9	4	FM	Gharibyan Mamikon	ARM	2388	5,0	0,0	25,5	28,5	4	4
10	9	IM	Raja Rithvik R	IND	2369	5,0	0,0	24,0	27,0	3	4

Under-16 girls

Nazerke Nurgali beat Kamaliya Bulatova to join Leya Garifullina at the top | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The favourite to win the title Leya Garifullina drew her game against Anousha Mahdian | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Standings after round 7 - under-16 girls

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	4	WFM	Nurgali Nazerke	w	KAZ	2194	6,0	0,5	29,5	32,5	4	5
2	1	WCM	Garifullina Leya	w	RUS	2330	6,0	0,5	29,0	31,5	3	5
3	7	WFM	Mahdian Anousha	w	IRI	2103	5,5	0,0	30,0	33,0	4	4
4	9	WFM	Ciolacu Alessia-Mihaela	w	ROU	2095	5,5	0,0	24,5	28,0	3	4
5	14	WFM	Bommini Mounika Akshaya	w	IND	2017	5,0	0,0	29,5	31,5	4	4
6	2	WFM	Beydullayeva Govhar	w	AZE	2289	5,0	0,0	28,0	31,5	4	4
7	22	WFM	Demchenko Svitlana	w	CAN	1953	5,0	0,0	26,0	28,0	4	4
8	11	WFM	Salonika Saina	w	IND	2051	5,0	0,0	26,0	28,0	3	4
9	6	WFM	Loskutova Viktoriya	w	RUS	2149	5,0	0,0	25,0	28,0	4	5
10	3	WCM	Mrudul Dehankar	w	IND	2227	5,0	0,0	23,5	26,0	3	4

Under-18 open

Aryan Gholami beat Nikoloz Petriashvili and moved into sole lead with 6.0/7 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Aryan's play was extremely instructive, particularly at one moment where sacrificed a pawn:

Petriashvili vs Gholami, round 7

How should Black play here?

Black has just given a check on a2. Where do you move your king?

The much-awaited clash between top two seeds in under-18 open section Shant Sargsyan and Praggnanandhaa ended in a draw | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Standings after round 7 - under-18 open

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	3	IM	Gholami Aryan	IRI	2554	6,0	0,0	29,0	32,5	3	5
2	2	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2567	5,5	0,0	27,5	30,0	4	4
3	15	IM	Mitrabha Guha	IND	2434	5,5	0,0	25,5	29,0	3	4
4	5	GM	Iniyan P	IND	2509	5,0	0,0	29,0	32,5	3	3
5	1	GM	Sargsyan Shant	ARM	2580	5,0	0,0	28,5	32,5	3	3
6	16	IM	Aditya Mittal	IND	2430	5,0	0,0	28,0	31,0	3	3
7	14	IM	Zarubitski Viachaslau	BLR	2435	5,0	0,0	27,0	30,5	4	4
8	25	FM	Chylewski Patryk	POL	2348	5,0	0,0	25,5	29,0	4	4
9	4	IM	Gazik Viktor	SVK	2546	5,0	0,0	25,5	28,0	4	4
10	24	FM	Stoleriu George	ROU	2351	5,0	0,0	24,0	26,5	4	4

Under-18 girls

Polina Shuvalova is now the sole leader in girls under-18 after she scored a fine win over Anna Afonsieva. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Shuvalova vs Afonsieva, round 7

White to move. What would you play?

Polina played her bishop to f2, pushing the queen away. Afonsieva played her queen to e7.

White to move

Polina struck gold here with the move Rxg7! Black took back the rook with Bxg7

What will you now play with White?

BAM!! The queen is sacrificed to mate Black's king!

After Kxh7 f6+ Kh6 Be3+ Kh5 Bf3+ Kh4 Bf2+ Black decided to throw in the towel.

The king was dragged out in the open and checkmated with two bishops and a rook!

For her beautiful play, especially the rook sac on g7 followed by the queen sac on h7, Shuvalova gets ChessBase's best game of the day award.

Shuvalova wins the best game of the day award for round seven | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Vantika Agrawal beat Thalia Cervantes and moves to 5.5/7 | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Lara Schulze won a fine game in the Sicilian against Alicja Sliwicka and is now in joint second position with 5.5/7

Standings after round 7 - under-18 girls

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1	WIM	Shuvalova Polina	w	RUS	2412	6,0	0,0	27,0	29,5	3	5
2	6	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	w	IND	2283	5,5	0,0	27,0	30,0	4	4
3	3	FM	Schulze Lara	w	GER	2327	5,5	0,0	25,0	28,5	3	4
4	13	WFM	Serikbay Assel	w	KAZ	2208	5,0	0,0	26,0	28,5	3	3
5	5	WIM	Sliwicka Alicja	w	POL	2307	5,0	0,0	25,5	29,0	3	4
6	4	WFM	Afonasieva Anna	w	RUS	2312	5,0	0,0	25,0	28,0	4	5
7	7	WGM	Obolentseva Alexandra	w	RUS	2282	5,0	0,0	24,5	28,0	3	3
8	10		Yan Tianqi	w	CHN	2236	5,0	0,0	24,0	27,0	4	5
9	14	WIM	Cervantes Landeiro Thalia	w	USA	2176	4,5	0,0	31,0	34,5	3	3
10	21	WFM	Makhija Aashna	w	IND	2084	4,5	0,0	28,0	30,0	4	2

Food

One of things that the organizers have taken care of at the World Youth Championships is the food. Usually Indian food is spicy, but at the Renaissance hotel the chefs have ensured that the spice is always under control so that players from 64 different countries can enjoy Indian cuisine.

Every day you have two soups - a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian one | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Marinated fish in Soy sauce | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The Naan bread which is liked by a lot of international players | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Paneer Masala an Indian vegetable speciality | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The Salad bar | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Why are they standing in a queue? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

That's the LIVE pasta station which is very popular | Photo: Amruta Mokal

You have to wait often for 10-15 minutes to get your pasta made, but it is worth the wait! | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The desserts include cakes, pastries and ice creams of different flavours for the players | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Talks by experts

After the talk by a physiotherapist on the 5th of October 2019, and a nutritionist on the 6th, it was now time to bring on a psychologist. The topic on 7th of October was parent's psychology.

Rekha Nahar, a certified physiotherapist and also the mother of two chess kids was the perfect person to deliver the lecture | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Around 100 parents and coaches attended the session | Photo: Amruta Mokal

There was a unique segement with music at the end of the session which you shouldn't miss in the video below. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

These sessions have proved to be quite a value addition for all the parents who are present at the venue. Usually they await the games of their children to come to an end. But because of these lectures, they are able to spend their time in a fruitful manner. | Photo: Amruta Mokal

Rekha, the person who gave a lecture, was accompanied by her husband Pinkesh | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The entire workshop by Rekha Nahar recorded by ChessBase India

5th October - Physiotherapy lecture by Abhishek Bangera

6th October - Nutrition lecture by Krushmi Chheda

8th of October 2019 is a rest day at the World Youth Championships 2019. The eighth round will take place on 9th of October 2019.

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